William Hague in Profile: Best Prime Minister the Tories Never Had? William Hague in Profile: Best Prime Minister the Tories Never Had? By Nick Assinder Political Editor January 24, 2014 12:44 GMT Britain's foreign secretary William Hague speaks at a news conference at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. British foreign secretary William Hague's presence at the heart of the Geneva II peace talks may have underlined the UK's reputation for "punching above its weight" on the world stage, as predecessor Douglas Hurd once claimed, but it has also reminded many that Hague is probably the best Prime Minister the Tories never had. He has become the great lost leader of the Conservative party, and all because of two key events – one major the other trivial, but both in their own ways career-defining. First, when John Major was swept from power by the Tony Blair landslide in 1997, the 36 year old Hague, was talked into becoming party leader against his better judgement "for the good of the party" and to drag it into a new age. He will never say so, but it was an offer he couldn't refuse, and was just about as toxic as those Mafia-style offers usually are.

And secondly, there was a PR disaster involving a baseball cap and funfair ride from which he never recovered. More of that later. The near tragedy of his extraordinary rise to becoming one of the most respected of current politicians is that Hague is almost exactly the sort of leader the Tory party might look to if Cameron fails again in 2015. But they won't. He is suitably Eurosceptic, but not anti-Europe, he is hugely experienced and cool under fire and he is a brilliant Commons performer who routinely bests his opponents, from Blair on. William Hague once claimed to drink 14 pints of beer a day when youngReuters He even pioneered "compassionate Conservatism" that has more than an echo in Cameron's current "liberal Conservatism". And he is a state-educated northerner. But, thanks to that decision to accept the leadership challenge as the party went into shock after the Labour landslide, his moment has passed.

Hague first hit he headlines exactly 20 years before when, at just 16, he delivered a barnstorming, if embarrassingly geeky, party conference speech in which, in a strangulated Yorkshire accent, he warned the party of a possible Labour government with the words: "Half of you won't be here in 30 or 40 years' time" to feel the consequences. No one was surprised when, after his time at Oxford, he was elected MP during a by-election in Richmond in 1989. He had a swift rise through the cabinet ranks and by by the time of the 1997 election he was Welsh Secretary and had a solid reputation under his belt. But then the Tory "men in blue suits" came knocking. They needed a fresh, young face to replace the defeated John Major and the other likely candidates, Ken Clarke and Michael Howard were neither fresh or young. Hague was talked into doing the right thing for his party and was elected. It turned out to be the wrong thing – for both of them. He struggled to make the transition and made a couple of disastrous PR blunders. There was the baseball cap incident.

He visited a theme park with his chief of staff, Sebastian Coe, and – presumably to show how young and groovy they were - they went down a log flume ride wearing baseball caps emblazoned with the word "Hague". His boyish face peeking out from under the cap made him look like a Thunderbirds puppet and the media had a field day. Later, when chatting to an interviewer about his youth – during which he helped out on his father's business delivering soft drinks to pubs – he claimed he would often drink 14 pints of beer a day. Cue much hilarity and mickey taking. By the end of his leadership in 2001 an opinion poll for the Daily Telegraph newspaper showed 66% of voters thought he was "a bit of a wally". And that was that. After gaining exactly one seat in the 2001 election defeat, he quit and one of those stale, old faces, in the shape of Michael Howard, was talked into taking over. For a long while Hague faded into the background, earning plenty in business and as a brilliant after-dinner speaker. He wrote books, notably a biography of Pitt the Younger, and made many TV and radio appearances.

His reputation and standing quietly built and, in 2005, David Cameron offered him the post of shadow Foreign Secretary. He handled the Tories withdrawal from the European People's Party grouping in the European parliament and started to cut an authoritative figure on the world stage, rubbing shoulders with other global leaders. He became foreign secretary in 2010 and has proved a successful and steady hand on issues from the euro and EU membership, through relations with Iran to the crisis in Syria. On the last, he was defeated over the government's call for military action against the Assad regime and even saw calls for his resignation as a result. Political Times: Lib Dem Family Feud, Farage and the Fruitcakes IBTimes UK His personal life also became the centre of media attention in 2010 when newspapers raised questions over his relationship with his 25-year-old special adviser, Christopher Myers. Hague, who married his wife Ffion Jenkins in 1997, took the unusual and much criticised decision to publicly refute the allegations. He admitted he had occasionally shared a hotel room with Myers but flatly denied suggestions he had ever had a relationship with any man. For a while he appeared to lose his enthusiasm for politics and his job.

But more lately he has recovered and is now widely viewed in Westminster as a Tory grandee, albeit at 52 a relatively young one. But, when the time comes for his party to look for a replacement for David Cameron, and that may even be as soon as next year if the election goes badly wrong for him, it remains unlikely the men in blue suits will turn to Hague again. Related h2g2 - William Hague: Conservative Party Leader 1997 - 2001 - Edited Entry 2 Conversations William Hague became Conservative Party leader in 1997 after Labour's landslide defeat of John Major's Tory Government. At the time he was largely unheard of but nonetheless rose to power, declaring a new start for the Conservatives. However, after four years as party leader, the June 2001 general election resulted in another crushing defeat for the Tories, and Hague, given that in Parliamentary terms he had only gained one seat over four years, felt obliged to resign. History Hague was born and brought up in Yorkshire and continues to serve as Member of Parliament for Richmond. While attending a local comprehensive, he created a sensation with his infamous speech as a schoolboy speaker at the Conservative Party Conference.

He subsequently took a first class degree at Oxford University and gained a distinction in his MBA at INSEAD . Hague spent five years as a consultant at McKinsey and Co before entering the House of Commons, where he was soon appointed Minister for Pensions. Under Major's government he was appointed Secretary of State for Wales and in 1997 took control of the party. Divided Party Hague's problems began from the moment he took up his position, inheriting a party with several significant divisions and political agendas. The 'Fresh Start' policy attempted to unite the party once again – working together they could propel the party from its electoral obliteration to a position where it could regain power at the next general election. However, his leadership soon became subject to dissent after a publicity visit to a theme park with colleagues including close friend Sebastian Coe. While it was designed to show that he was in touch with the voters, many saw it as a pathetic attempt to seem young, leading to MPs suggesting that he was 'juvenile'.

A subsequent visit to the Notting Hill Carnival, the biggest ethnic festival in Europe, was meant to show that the Conservative party was not just Oxbridge-educated Caucasians, but many commentators instead suggested that the visit brought this fact to public attention. While Hague preached about his 'Fresh Start,' he remained torn between modernising the party - consigning its past to history - and honouring the Thatcherism that had brought it so much success in the eighties. This split was in evidence in the party at large, as Hague suffered a PR disaster when Dennis Lilley made a speech about 'burying Thatcherism' and making the party more progressive on the same night as Hague and senior colleagues were attending a dinner in commemoration of 20 years since Margaret Thatcher had taken office in 1979. This created media frenzy with most newspapers supporting the view that this simply illustrated the unelectable nature of the Conservatives. Even before Lilley's comments, Hague had found himself significantly further behind Tony Blair in approval ratings after Princess Diana 's death in 1997. Upon the advice of Alan Duncan, Hague made a short, sombre and duly apolitical speech.

In contrast, Tony Blair showed real emotion and pain and his phrase 'the People's Princess' took off across the country, depicting how much Blair was in tune with public sentiment. Factions On top of these errors of judgement, Hague also had to contend with the factions of his party that resented how close he was to Amanda Platell and Seb Coe, while alienating the rest of the party. There were further splits over policy for Europe, Section 28 policy and whether or not to accept monetarism. It was quite clear that Hague's plans for unification were falling to pieces, and just when it seemed things couldn't get any worse, there was the Jeffrey Archer debacle. In his conference speech, Archer had emphasised how he had the support of former Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major, and the support of 'the next Prime Minister – William Hague.' As a result, when he was convicted of perjury, the accusations of sleaze that ravaged Major's premiership came back and Archer managed to effectively take Hague down with him. This made Tories such as Platell despair; they could see from the outset that Archer was a liability and that associating with him meant just waiting for an inevitable disaster.

The election of Michael Portillo in a by-election brought his return to the Commons after losing the safe seat of Kensington and Chelsea to Labour in 1997. Hague appointed him Shadow Chancellor and within days significant policy U-turns were seen as Portillo victories over Hague as the former began to assert himself and his claim for Party leadership. Portillo's new liberal thinking created a new faction whereby he and the Shadow Foreign Secretary allied in undermining Hague's authority. Furthermore, Ann Widdecombe and Kenneth Clarke managed to create even more factions, with the former favouring an outright ban and jail sentence for the possession of drugs (completely at odds with Portillo's new liberal ideas), and Clarke fronting the Tories' pro-Europe stance. Nonetheless, every week Hague would be able to put all of his party infighting to one side to grill the Prime Minister with each of his six questions at Prime Minister's Question Time. Given all of the above, it came as no surprise when Hague entered the 2001 election as the firm outsider. The party was seen as being even more out of touch when it chose Europe as the principal selling point in its manifesto, proclaiming that voting for Labour would mean saying goodbye to the pound.

However, this had little influence on voters, who were more interested in public services – the NHS and education – which were both focussed on by Labour's manifesto. Inevitably, the Tories were again trounced and Hague's four-year leadership proved unfruitful. Conclusions On paper, Hague did very little that was ultimately successful and very little that someone else would have been unable to do, making his leadership unequivocally unsuccessful. However, given the circumstances in which he took control of the party, there was very little he could have done differently, especially considering the wave of public support Labour were riding on. Ultimately, it is fair to say that anyone could have been as successful as Hague was, but they would have also been just as unsuccessful. William Hague to resign as foreign secretary in major Tory reshuffle | Politics | The Guardian Close This article is 2 years old William Hague is to stand down as foreign secretary with immediate effect and will take on the lesser role of leader of the House of Commons as David Cameron embarked on the most far reaching reshuffle of the parliament that was dubbed a new "night of the long knives".

A far wider than expected cull of male ministers saw the former chancellor Kenneth Clarke leave the government alongside Damian Green, the policing minister, Dominic Grieve , the attorney general, and David Willetts, the universities and science minister. Philip Hammond, the highly eurosceptic defence secretary, emerged as the leading candidate to replace Hague at the foreign office. Hammond, who said last year that he would vote to leave the EU if it remained in its present form, would assume the mantle of the cabinet's most senior eurosceptic as foreign secretary. As shell-shocked former ministers walked the corridors of Westminster on Monday night – ahead of the promotion today of a series of women at all levels of the government – there were the first signs of a backlash as the scale of the cull of middle aged men became clear. "It's the night of the long knives and that went really well last time," one Tory said sarcastically, referring to Harold Macmillan's desperate attempt to shore up his government in 1962 when he sacked a third of his cabinet. Tories on the right of the party were also alarmed by the sacking of the arch eurosceptic Owen Paterson as environment secretary.

They are hoping that Liam Fox, the former defence secretary, will return. There were suggestions that he would be offered a middle ranking post. In the prime minister's most far reaching reshuffle, Downing Street announced that Hague will take on the role of leader of the House of Commons before he stands down as MP for Richmond at the election to allow him to focus on his writing career. A major reshaping of Whitehall was also signalled as it became clear that Sir Bob Kerslake, the head of the home civil service who had clashed with the cabinet office minister Francis Maude, will retire next spring. Kerslake turns 60 in February, the usual retirement date for senior civil servants. The ministerial reshuffle was signalled when the former chancellor Kenneth Clarke , who has championed the European cause as a member of every Tory government since 1972, resigned from the cabinet with a warning to Cameron that he will remain in parliament to fight in favour of Britain's membership of the EU. The prime minister praised the outgoing foreign secretary as "one of the leading lights of the Conservative party for a generation" as Hague announced his intention to stand down.

Hague's move to become leader of the Commons has echoes of the path taken by Robin Cook after the 2001 election. But that was a clear demotion, unlike Hague whose decision to stand down at the election paved the way for a less onerous cabinet post. The surprise announcement about Hague, who will remain as a member of the national security council and will play a leading role in reaching out to voters in the north of England in the run up to the election, followed a wider-than-expected cull of middle aged male ministers. As expected Sir George Young, the chief whip, and David Jones, the Wales secretary, were sacked from the cabinet. There was surprise in Tory ranks as Stephen Hammond, the transport minister, Hugh Robertson, the foreign office minister, and Nick Hurd – son of the former foreign secretary Lord Hurd of Westwell – who was minister for civil society, were all sacked. Alan Duncan, the international development minister, and Greg Barker, the climate change minister who was an early supporter of Cameron during the 2005 Tory leadership contest, left the government at their own request.

As expected, the universities and science minister David "two brains" Willetts lost his job as did the Northern Ireland Office Andrew Robathan, another early Cameron supporter. Willetts, who is to stand down as an MP at the election, was praised by the prime minister who told him: "I have been proud to have 'two brains' at the heart of my team, both in opposition and in government and you, in turn, can take enormous pride in the contribution you have made." Tory sources have made clear that Cameron wants the "old lags" to move on to make way for women and younger men who will be promoted on the second day of the reshuffle on Tuesday. Esther McVey, the employment minister and former breakfast television presenter, Liz Truss, the childcare minister, Nicky Morgan, the women's minister, Amber Rudd, the whip, Anna Soubry, the defence minister, Priti Patel and Margot James, members of the No 10 policy board, are all expected to be promoted. This should take the prime minister close to his target of ensuring that a third of his ministers are women. One senior Tory warned of tokenism as the prime minister prepares to promote large numbers of women.

"This really is the worst form of tokenistic gesture politics," one senior figure said. "Merit is out of the window." The departure of Hague overshadowed all the other departures at Westminster where it had been assumed that he would remain as foreign secretary until the election, although it had been widely thought he might stand down next year to return to writing history books. Hague led the Conservatives in opposition from 1997 until 2001, when he resigned after being heavily defeated by Tony Blair at the general election. Paying a warm tribute to Hague, Cameron said: "William Hague has been one of the leading lights of the Conservative Party for a generation, leading the party and serving in two cabinets. Not only has he been a first class foreign secretary – he has also been a close confidant, a wise counsellor and a great friend.

He will remain as first secretary of state and my de facto political deputy in the run up to the election – and it is great to know that he will be a core part of the team working to ensure an outright Conservative victory at the next election." Hague, who will remain as a member of the national security council, said: "By the time of the general election next year, I will have served 26 years in the House of Commons and it will be 20 years since I first joined the cabinet. In government there is a balance to strike between experience on the one hand and the need for renewal on the other, and I informed the prime minister last summer that I would not be a candidate at the next general election.

"Accordingly I am stepping aside as foreign secretary, in order to focus all my efforts on supporting the government in parliament and gaining a Conservative victory in the general election – after four years in which we have transformed Britain's links with emerging economies, significantly expanded our diplomatic network and the promotion of British exports, restored the Foreign Office as a strong institution, and set a course to a reformed European Union and a referendum on our membership of it." Clarke, the former chancellor, made clear that is prepared for a final great battle of his political career in the runup to the prime minister's planned EU referendum in 2017. In his resignation letter to the prime minister, typed on plain paper, Clarke said that the case for Britain's membership of the EU is stronger than ever. Setting himself at odds with the prime minister, who says that Britain's current EU membership terms are unacceptable, Clarke wrote: "I intend to remain as an active backbencher in the House of Commons. My belief in Britain's membership of the European Union remains as firm as ever and I think the political and economic case is made even stronger in today's globalised economy and dangerously disturbed world.

We must not diminish Britain's ability to influence events in the next few decades." Clarke, who secured his first job as a whip in 1972 in Edward Heath's government, made a point of making a high-profile Downing Street visit to the prime minister, who is 26 years his junior, rather than seeing Cameron in the more discreet setting of his House of Commons office. Friends of Clarke, who recently celebrated his 74th birthday, say he was in a jovial mood on Monday as he joked with colleagues that he was looking forward to enjoying more time watching his beloved cricket. In his resignation letter to the prime minister, he wrote: "I have been doing red boxes at night for a high proportion of my adult life. There are plenty of other able people who could take on the work that I was doing in government and I think the time has come to return to being a veteran backbencher." Some of Clarke's friends have said that the prime minister is risking Britain's membership with what they regard as pointless rows such as the recent one over the appointment of Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the European Commission. Clarke recently undermined the prime minister by questioning why everyone was making such a fuss over Juncker.

William Hague bids farewell to the Tory party conference leaving Cameron wiping away the tears | Daily Mail Online Almost four decades ago, a young, long-haired William Hague took to the Conservative party conference platform, and berated its elder statesman and ageing activists for not moving with the times. 'It's all right for you,' be beamed. 'You won't be here in 30 or 40 years' time.' Today, some 37 years later, he bid a final farewell to the Tory conference, reflecting that as first leader, and then Foreign Secretary, he had 'been, gone, come back and given it another decade, and am now going again'. Prime Minister David Cameron was seen wiping tears from his eyes, as one of the closest friends and allies of his premiership address the Tory faithful for the final time, before standing down from Parliament at the next election. The moment of emotion came after a difficult 48 hours for the Prime Minister, who saw a second MP defect to UKIP and Charities Minister Brooks Newmark resign after being caught sexting in a newspaper sting.

Scroll down for video William Hague today delivered his last keynote speech to the Tory party conference, 37 years after he berated ageing activists as a long-haired schoolboy in 1977 (right) Mr Hague said the time had come to step down from the political frontline insisting every great political party needs an injection of new ideas David Cameron was seen wiping away tears early on in the speech, in which Mr Hague paid tribute to the Prime Minister's leadership Mr Hague said as PM, Mr Cameron had managed to 'calmly and steadily defy every prediction to produce an outstanding economic record in the face of much contrary advice' Mr Hague stunned senior Tories at the reshuffle in July when he announced he was standing down as Foreign Secretary immediately, and would continue as Leader of the Commons until the general election. He received a long standing ovation from the Tory faithful as he delivered his final keynote speech, declaring that 'politics always needs the chance for new ideas to come forward'. But he could resist the opportunity to take on some old foes, and address a few new enemies.

RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share He mocked the 'infuriating but effective smoothness' of Tony Blair, over whom he triumphed across the despatch box but was roundly defeated at the ballot box in the 2001 election. Socialism, he warned, is a 'blind alley of history never to be ventured down again'. And after more than a quarter of a century in Parliament, he had 'never seen a frontbench worse, weaker, or more woeful' Ed Miliband's today. Mr Hague waved goodbye to the party faithful, who gave him a standing ovation in the Symphony Hall of Birmingham's ICC There were triumphs too, noting that while he was mocked and ridiculed during his time as leader at the height of New Labour popularity, time had proved him right. 'On fundamental national issues we should always stick to what we know is right, even in the face of derision and attack,' he urged a packed Symphony Hall, at the Birmingham ICC. 'Much scorn was heaped on us, and on me, when we campaigned against joining the euro fifteen years ago. 'But we have been vindicated by events one hundred percent.

Today we have a Chancellor who was told by many economists to change course and it is to the lasting benefit of our country that he had the strength and foresight to ignore them.' Before this, his final speech more than 35 years after his 1977 debut, Mr Hague was introduced by George Osborne. The Chancellor said Mr Hague had attracted the love of the party and the country during his time in politics. After quitting the frontline following his general election pasting, Mr Hague only returned when Mr Cameron became leader. Mr Hague said: 'I have worked with him every day for the last nine years and I have seen him calmly and steadily defy every prediction to produce an outstanding economic record in the face of much contrary advice. 'He has returned repeatedly from Brussels with negotiating feats said to be impossible. 'At the same time, I saw as foreign secretary he took the greatest possible care to give endless hours of thought when British nationals were in danger, when our forces are committed to action, as they are today.

'As I leave government in the next seven months I salute the inexhaustible patience, the tireless perseverance and the steadily-growing success of the man who led us into government at the last election and deserves to win big at the next election.' Mr Hague used his valedictory address to poke fun at the Labour Party, telling activists: 'It tells you something about how long I have been speaking to Conservative conferences... that on the first occasion I did so in 1977 George (Osborne) would have been six years old. 'And I know this: even a six-year-old George Osborne would speak more economic sense than a 47-year-old Ed Balls.' Mr Hague tore into his opponents over four decades in politics, mocking Tony Blair, Neil Kinnock and John Prescott But he said Labour's giants of the past Clement Attlee and Nye Bevan would 'weep for their party' if they could see its leadership today He told the conference he had spoken more times than even he could remember at the annual gatherings. Mr Hague added: 'This is the last time - politics always needs the chance for new ideas to come forward and I decided the time has come for me leave the frontline after a quarter of a century in Parliament.

'Thirty-seven years ago, I said half of you won't be here in 30 or 40 years' time and I am not in the least bit surprised some of you are still here while I have been, gone, come back and given it another decade, and am now going again. 'I want to thank the wonderful membership of this party for supporting me over the decades, through thick and thin, and for listening to endless speeches by me as a teenager, as a candidate, as secretary of state for Wales, as leader of the opposition, as foreign secretary, and now as leader of the House of Commons.' Mr Cameron, seated next to Mr Hague's wife Ffion, bit his lip as his great ally bowed out one final time Hundreds of people cheered, applauded and waved the Union Flag around Mr Cameron and Mrs Hague as they paid tribute to Mr Hague Mr Cameron later said he had watched Mr Hague's final conference speech 'with pride and awe' Reflecting on the developments in politics over his career, Mr Hague reeled off a list of Conservative achievements over the decade.

He won a standing ovation after telling activists: 'We have done all this while at the same time in those 40 years winning the battle of ideas to show that freedom and free enterprise are the true foundations of national success and that socialism is a blind alley of history never to be ventured down again.' The appreciation was mutual for the Prime Minister, who said he watched Mr Hague's speech with 'pride and awe'. Mr Cameron wrote on Twitter: 'I watched the final William Hague conference speech with pride and awe. He has been and remains a great Conservative.' Meanwhile, Mr Hague, a veteran of many political battles, turned his sights on the Tories' current opponents - a 'divided and dysfunctional' Labour Party and the 'hypocritical and dishonest' UK Independence Party. After his speech, Mr Hague was joined by his wife in the Hyatt Hotel. The couple tied the knot in 1997 Mr Hague will stand down as MP for Richmond at the next election, after more than a quarter of a century in Parliament The former Tory leader said Labour's giants of the past Clement Attlee and Nye Bevan would 'weep for their party' if they could see its leadership today.

Mr Hague joked that Labour leader Ed Miliband lacked the 'infuriating but effective smoothness' of Tony Blair and the eloquence of Neil Kinnock. He said: 'I have watched the Labour Party for 26 years in Parliament now and in all those years I have never seen a frontbench worse, weaker or more woeful that theirs today. 'Where once the late John Smith commanded esteem, or at least there was the eloquence of Neil Kinnock. 'Where once there was the infuriating but effective smoothness of Tony Blair, now there isn't even John Prescott to make their weakness highly entertaining. 'You have to go back to Michael Foot and 1983 to find a Labour Party less prepared to govern, for this is the left-wing, backward-looking, unreconstructed, divided, dysfunctional and unimaginative Labour we have seen, who have never said sorry and not learnt the lessons of their catastrophes and will make all the same high taxing, overspending, nation-bankrupting mistakes again if given half the chance.

'If the giants of Labour's post-war ideas, and if Attlee and Bevan could look down on the Labour leadership today, they would first not believe their eyes and then they would weep for their party and quite possibly their country.' Mr Hague also turned his sights on Ukip, which has recently gained the membership of defected former Tory MPs Douglas Carswell and Mark Reckless. He said: 'We will go on fighting to hold that referendum and win that fight while those who have joined Ukip sit on the sidelines doing precisely nothing to bring it about. 'Let us be very frank, let me say it like a Yorkshireman - it is not only self-defeating and counter-productive, it is also hypocritical and dishonest to say you want to give people a choice on Europe and then help the election of a Labour government that will never give people that choice.' 'I have felt it important to be a Conservative and believe in everything this party has achieved' It is an honour to be introduced by one of my closest friends and colleagues, the man who has done nothing less than completely turn around the British economy in just four years of discipline and decisiveness - George Osborne.

It tells you something about how long I've been speaking to Conservative conferences that on the first occasion I did so, in 1977, George would have been six years old. And I know this: even a six year-old George Osborne would have more economic sense than a 47 year-old Ed Balls. I have addressed the Conservative Party Conference more times than anyone can remember, including me, and this is the last time. Politics always needs the chance for new people and ideas to come forward, and I have decided the time has come for me to leave the frontline, after a quarter of a century as a Member of Parliament. 37 years ago I said, 'half of you won't be here in 30 or 40 years' time'. I'm not in the least bit surprised that some of you are still here and it is me that is going. I want to thank the wonderful membership of this party, for supporting me over these decades through thick and thin - and for listening to endless speeches by me - as a teenager, as a Conservative candidate, as Secretary of State for Wales, as Leader of the Opposition, as Foreign Secretary and now as Leader of the House of Commons.

Over those four decades I have watched this Party, the Conservative Party, rescue our country from drifting debt-fuelled Labour governments not once, but twice, and in that period we should be proud that we gave millions of people the chance to own their own homes, brought Trades Unions within the law, set free our industries from the stifling dead hand of nationalisation, ended the straightjacket of exchange controls, put a stop to penal rates of taxation, enabled small businesses to thrive, turned the sick man of Europe into a nation walking tall, helped lead the free world to the fall of the Berlin wall and the collapse of communism, then fought our long and far-sighted campaign to keep the pound and reshaped our Party to open it to the diversity and fresh ideas of a new century, and have now gone onto to transform a failing education system and a bloated welfare state, created more apprenticeships than ever in history, seen more women into work than ever before, brought down unemployment in every part of Britain, cut the European budget for the first time in history, given Britain the fastest growth of any leading western nation, and done all this while at the same time in those forty years winning the battle of ideas to show that freedom and free enterprise are the true

 foundations of national success and that socialism is a blind alley of history never to be ventured down again.

All that time ago I urged Margaret Thatcher on, to be truly radical. Looking back on it now, I suspect she was going to be truly radical anyway. But a bit of encouragement never goes amiss. As a teenager I was inspired by her to enter politics, and after leaving the Party leadership myself I was again inspired to return to frontline politics by David Cameron. I have worked with him every day for the last nine years and I have seen him calmly and steadily defy every prediction, to produce an outstanding economic record in the face of much contrary advice, to return repeatedly from Brussels with negotiating feats said to be impossible, and at the same time, as I saw as Foreign Secretary, to take the greatest possible care and give endless hours of thought when British nationals are in danger or when our Armed Forces are committed to action as they are today. As I leave government in the next seven months I salute the inexhaustible patience, the tireless perseverance and the steadily growing success of the man who led us into government at the last election and deserves to win big at the next one.

Securing a better future for Britain requires a Conservative majority in the House of Commons, and as my last service in the senior ranks of this Party I am going to tour the constituencies, help raise the money, fight for our excellent candidates and meet every voter I can so that my colleagues, this time without all the demands, dilution and distraction of coalition, can truly bring the tax, education and welfare systems of Britain into the 21st century. Britain needs a majority Conservative government. The coming election presents a stark choice. A survey of Labour's candidates this month showed that nearly all of them think Labour didn't spend too much when they were last in power, that most of them don't think immigration is too high, that half of them want to scrap our nuclear deterrent and that a third of them want their Party's relationship with the Unions actually to be closer, which would mean ceasing to think for themselves at all. And if you think their candidates outside Parliament are bad enough, let me tell you about the ones already there. I've watched the Labour Party for 26 years in Parliament and in all those years I've never seen a frontbench worse, weaker, or more woeful than theirs today.

Where once there was the late John Smith commanding the scene, or at least the eloquence of Neil Kinnock, where once there was the infuriating but effective smoothness of Tony Blair, now there isn't even John Prescott to make their weakness entertaining. You have to look back to Michael Foot and 1983 to find a Labour Party less well-prepared to govern the country, for this is the most left-wing backward-looking unreconstructed, divided, dysfunctional and unimaginative Labour leadership in thirty years, who have never said sorry, have not learned the lessons of their catastrophes, and would make all the same high-taxing over-spending nation-bankrupting mistakes again if given half a chance. If the giants of Labour's post-war idealism, if Attlee and Bevan could look down on the Labour leadership today, they would first not believe their eyes and then they would weep for their party, and quite possibly for their country. We all know that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Those who can't even remember they ran up the biggest deficit in history in the immediate past will definitely repeat it.

Today the real ground-breaking advances in expanding opportunity for hardworking people are actually opposed by the Labour Party, and are instead the achievements of a non-Labour coalition and of the Conservative Party in government. It is a staggering achievement that at a time when other European economies are flat or struggling we have more people in work than ever before, that unemployment is falling faster than for a quarter of a century, that there are 2 million more private sector jobs and 400,000 more businesses, that we've cut income tax for over 25 million people, and that at the same time we have capped welfare spending, cut immigration and brought down crime. That is nearly 2 million more people waking up each day knowing they've got a job to go to, knowing they have a wage coming in, that their hard work is rewarded, and that is what is at stake in this election. The coming election is a choice between more of this great progress on the one hand, or on the other a lurch back to the days when Gordon Brown not only ran out of everybody else's money but Ed Balls and Ed Miliband actually advised him how to do it. The next election is a straight choice between these alternatives.

And it is a straight choice between a referendum on Europe with the Conservatives or no say on Europe at all with Labour. Deep in the Conservative Party, running through all our history, is a belief in the strength, value and longevity of a distinct British democracy. That is why we campaigned so passionately for Scotland to stay in the Union. And it is why we believe that, with the passing of five major treaties governing our membership of the European Union since the last national referendum on this issue nearly 40 years ago, this is the time for a major political party to be committed to a national referendum so the British people can again have their say, and to hold it in the first half of the next Parliament. This is one of the key choices at the election. Labour have spent 10 years making up their minds about whether they want a referendum on Europe, and after 10 years of dither, uncertainty, confusion and contradiction they've ended up making the wrong choice and are still seeking to the deny the democratic will of the people of this country.

Faced with that choice next May anyone who votes for UKIP is not voting for a referendum on Europe but is actually obstructing it, is helping a Labour leader who would ensure no referendum takes place at all. We will go on fighting to hold that referendum and win that fight while those who have joined UKIP sit on the sidelines and do precisely nothing to bring it about. Let us be very frank – let me say it like a Yorkshireman: It is not only self-defeating and counter-productive, it is also hypocritical and dishonest, to say you want to give people a choice on Europe and then help the election of a Labour government that would never give people that choice. On top of an improving economy, on top of falling unemployment, on top of welfare under control, on top of improved education, the only way to secure a referendum on Europe is to vote Conservative on 7th May. Our long attachment to the democratic strength of these islands means that we understand the need for fairness, balance and equity between all parts of the United Kingdom.

The legitimate need for greater autonomy and devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is one we respect and have made work, while the grossly wasteful artifice of regional government in England is something we and the people of the country have resolutely rejected. We are wholeheartedly committed to the further devolution to Scotland and Wales that is rightly on its way. But such further devolution turns the matter of Scottish MPs continuing to vote on even the most minor policies in England from an anomaly into an injustice, and from an issue that many want to postpone into one that must be now be faced. It is time for the way decisions are made to be fair to all, including the voters of England. My longstanding view is that when Parliament makes decisions affecting only the people of England, or only the people of England and Wales, then those decisions should be made only by the MPs elected to represent them. If the representatives of Scotland are well able to decide many of their own laws, as they surely are, then when we representatives of Yorkshire, Kent or Norfolk are gathered together we have the ability and right to do so as well. The Prime Minister has asked me to chair the Committee of the Cabinet which is to address at last this question.

We have begun our work and we are open to the views of all. But we are not open to attempts to evade and dodge this issue for years to come. If no agreement can be reached then each party must present its proposals to the electorate. So we will argue our case with the other parties, but in the absence of agreement we will relish taking our case to the country. The Conservative Party is acknowledged to be the world's oldest and most successful political party, and 37 years on from when I first stood at the conference rostrum I think I know why. First, it is that our principles are broad, constant and true. Conservatives always believe that people, not governments know best and that the spirit of enterprise will always triumph over the soullessness of state control. We've been through times when our opponents thought the Soviet Union would turn out to be efficient, and even now our rivals cannot bring themselves to believe that there is more wisdom in the humblest of consumers, voters and householders than in the grandest target-setting committee in Whitehall.

But our success has also lain in renewing in each generation how we apply these great principles in a practical way to the new challenges of the time, while those on the left alternate through history between attachment to a universal ideology which turns out to be universally wrong, or the ditching of all principles and ideology which turns out to be empty and rudderless. And our success is greatest when our practical but liberating approach benefits millions outside the narrow impressions of some people's views of Conservatives. The mass extension of home ownership in the '80s and indeed the sharp raising of tax thresholds today show how the nation as a whole benefits from Conservative principles in action. Our Conservatism is not exclusive. And many of the things I am proudest of achieving as a Conservative MP illustrate the sheer breadth of the work our Party can do. As a Conservative Minister for Disabled People I wrote and took through Parliament, with John Major's great encouragement, the Disability Discrimination Act, a landmark in improving the lives of Britain's disabled people. I am proud to have done that as a Conservative, because we believe in opportunity for all, and that every individual has abilities that should be celebrated and developed.

As a Conservative Secretary of State for Wales I concentrated on creating apprenticeships and employment, like our government today, and on enhancing the environment and countryside of Wales, because it is part of our Conservatism that our natural environment is to be cherished and preserved. As a Conservative Foreign Secretary I reversed Labour's neglect of our diplomacy, set about restoring the Foreign Office as a great institution and opened new British Embassies and consulates with a mission everywhere to promote our goods and services, because I believe Britain will always need to be a great influence in the world and because we should unashamedly support our businesses, jobs and industry. And I placed us at the forefront of the promotion of women's rights, because it is part of our Conservatism that half of humanity should not be held back, and we have to grasp as the great strategic prize of this century the full social, political and economic empowerment of women, everywhere.

As a Conservative I've led the global campaign against rape as a weapon of war, the prevention of sexual violence in conflict, not only because this is essential to resolving conflicts and achieving peace in the world, but also because there is a moral dimension to our beliefs that runs from Wilberforce through Shaftesbury to our work today to uphold the dignity, and rights of all individuals. There is not and must never be anything narrow about our Conservatism. That I and others can work on so many issues within a career in the Conservative Party shows its breadth and its unending relevance and potential. And by the way, I've done all this work and held so many high offices starting as I did as a comprehensive schoolboy in Rotherham. Don't anyone ever try to tell me that you have to be privileged, or come from the south, or be connected to anybody at all, in order to get to the top in the Conservative Party. Our Party is a party for everyone. My last advice from the conference platform is always to keep that breadth of inclusion and sense of progress for all.

And it is to point out that we have always been at our strongest when we have done what is right for the long term, and in this coming election it is our long-term economic plan that is the only certain way forward for a growing and more prosperous nation. On fundamental national issues we should always stick to what we know is right, even in the face of derision and attack. Much scorn was heaped on us, and on me, when we campaigned against joining the euro fifteen years ago. But we have been vindicated by events one hundred percent. Today we have a Chancellor who was told by many economists to change course and it is to the lasting benefit of our country that he had the strength and foresight to ignore them. In the 21st century I am confident that Conservative values and beliefs will become more important than ever. In a more competitive world, our beliefs in taxes and regulations being limited by what is fair and healthy for an economy are the right ones. In a more dangerous world, our belief in the importance of our national defences and global alliances will be as crucial as ever.

In a rapidly-changing world, our ability to adapt our Conservatism to promote opportunity for all who can use it and dignity for all who seek it will win us support that is as strong as ever. So in the last 40 years I have felt it important to be a Conservative and believe in everything this party has achieved. I am sure that in the next 40 years our Party will achieve even more. I know, as Leader of the House of Commons, that there are people sitting behind me who are going to be the outstanding leaders, ministers and Prime Ministers of the future. With your support, they will go on to successes that Churchill, Thatcher or any of us would admire. Even beyond the House of Commons I will never stop fighting and arguing for Conservative values and principles. At this last conference before a vital General Election we have so much to be proud of and to communicate.

This Party has a great team of Ministers, unlimited talent and potential behind them, a record of rescuing this country from disaster in only four years and with your support we will win the next election and secure the future of our nation, and go on to great achievements in future decades, for the good of the British people, and in keeping with the great history of both our party and our country. Profile: William Hague - BBC News BBC News By Justin Parkinson Political reporter, BBC News 14 July 2014 Image copyright Reuters Image caption William Hague will stand down as an MP at the next election William Hague has announced he is leaving his post as foreign secretary to take over as leader of the House of Commons. The MP for Richmond in Yorkshire will also leave Parliament at the next election. His departure from the Foreign Office was revealed during a reshuffle that has also seen the departure of senior Conservative MP Ken Clarke and Welsh Secretary David Jones from the front bench. Early success In his political career, Mr Hague has seen the extremes of public life. There was astonishing early success, followed by bitter failure and a rise to the top of national - and even international - politics.

Mr Hague first came to wider attention aged just 16, when he gave the 1977 Conservative Party conference a barnstorming speech on the perils of a too-powerful state. The blond-haired boy with the Yorkshire accent wowed with his anti-Labour rhetoric, joking to his middle-aged and elderly audience: "It's all right for you. You won't be here in 30 or 40 years' time." Image copyright AP Image caption Mr Hague joined forces with Angelina Jolie to combat rape in war zones Thirty-three years later, Mr Hague was the holder of one of the great offices of state, a close ally of Conservative leader David Cameron and the UK's new representative on the world stage. Recently he has led a high-profile campaign to end sexual violence in war zones, a role that has united him with Hollywood star Angelina Jolie. He is set to carry on this work as the prime minister's special envoy. Gravitas An exponent of the almost lost art of Parliamentary wit, Mr Hague is an accomplished public speaker, who earned a very good living on the after-dinner circuit after he stood down as leader of the party after its hefty defeat at the 2001 general election.

He is one of the few speakers in modern politics that journalists and other politicians can listen to expecting a few good jokes. But his bruising experience as leader of the Conservative Party from 1997 to 2001 added a sense of gravitas to his public persona. As a member of Mr Cameron's cabinet, his northern accent and relatively modest background have provided an invaluable counterpoint to the public school, upper middle-class backgrounds of much of Mr Cameron's top team. Image copyright PA Image caption The young Hague was a hit with Margaret Thatcher William Jefferson Hague was born in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, on 26 March 1961. His parents ran a soft drinks company - Hague's Dandelion and Burdock and Lemonade were two local favourites. The young Hague used to help out with deliveries to shops and pubs in university holidays - an experience which led to one of his most famous gaffes, when he boasted to a men's magazine that because he used to be offered a drink at every stop on the route he would sometimes drink 14 pints of beer in a day.

He attended a comprehensive school, before going to Magdalen College, Oxford, where he attained a first-class degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. While at Oxford, Mr Hague was president of the Union and the Conservative association. Publicity Afterwards he attended a business school in France and worked for five years as a management consultant. Politics, though, was his vocation. At a by-election in 1989, Mr Hague became MP for the ultra-safe Conservative seat of Richmond, in North Yorkshire. He rose quickly, becoming an aide to Chancellor Norman Lamont and then a social security minister. Image copyright PA Image caption Mr Hague's efforts to modernise his party's image were ridiculed by the press In 1995, when John Major's Conservative Party was tearing itself apart over Europe, Mr Hague reached the cabinet, as Welsh secretary. He stayed in the job until the massive defeat to Labour at the 1997 general election. As soon as Mr Major quit, Mr Hague was mentioned as a likely successor. He won the contest and began with a couple of publicity stunts aimed at showing the Conservative Party was being reborn in a more youthful image.

Mr Hague was pictured sipping a drink with fiancee Ffion - whom he had met at the Welsh Office - from a hollowed-out coconut at the Notting Hill carnival. Another image of the Tory leader saw him on a log flume, wearing a baseball hat and accompanied by a youthful entourage. As opposition leader, he frequently mocked Tony Blair at prime minister's questions, winning plaudits for his witty performances. Yet, with Labour enjoying a massive Commons majority, he had little power and was making little impact with the wider electorate. Content As tends to happen to parties trailing badly in the polls, the press turned on him - there were constant jokes about his beer-drinking boast - with one tabloid newspaper running the headline "Billy Liar" - and his baseball cap wearing stunt. And his own party - still smarting and rancorous after their 1997 defeat - also began to make life difficult for him, as he was reduced to chasing headlines to shore up his fragile position rather than concentrating on long-term policy formation.

Image copyright PA Image caption Mr Hague fought the 2001 election on an anti-euro platform Mr Hague's 2001 election campaign, with the slogan "Save the Pound", which came to be regarded by his successors at the top of the Tory party as too right-wing and old-fashioned to compete with New Labour's slick push for the centre ground. And so it proved. The Tories only managed to cut Labour's majority to 167, from 179 in 1997. Mr Hague went immediately and returned to the backbenches to enjoy a lucrative career as a speaker, also writing a popular biography of William Pitt, the UK's youngest prime minister - possibly with a few thoughts about what might have been. He stayed quietly away from frontline politics for the next four years, seemingly content. Coalition However, when David Cameron took over as Tory leader in 2005, with a determination to make the party electable after three defeats in a row, he offered a return. Mr Hague was persuaded to come back as shadow foreign secretary. He grew close to Mr Cameron and was effectively regarded as the Conservatives' deputy leader.

In this role he came back to the Commons spotlight, sparring with Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman when the party leaders could not make it to prime minister's questions. Mr Hague, having recovered from his 2001 disappointment, seemed to be in love with politics once more. Conservative grassroots activists seemed equally in love with him, with his conference speeches receiving a rapturous reception. After the recent election delivered a hung parliament, he led negotiations with the Lib Dems, which resulted in the first UK coalition government since the 1940s. When Mr Cameron announced his team, it was no surprise that Mr Hague was made foreign secretary. He was also given the title of First Secretary, previously held by Labour's Lord Mandelson - a sign that he was right back at the top. Setting out his vision for foreign policy in a speech in July 2010 he said the UK must have more "global reach and influence" or face decline in a fast-changing world. In his first major speech as foreign secretary, he said the UK must build its influence in Europe and create stronger links with new economic superpowers such as China, India and Brazil.

Announcing his departure four years on, he said: "[the] Role of leader of the House means I will finish in politics as I began - speaking in parliament and campaigning among the voters". William Hague - Biography - IMDb William Hague Jump to: Overview (3) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (1) | Trivia (3) Overview (3) 5' 10" (1.78 m) Mini Bio (1) William Jefferson Hague was born on 26 March 1961 in Rotherham, Yorkshire. He was educated at Wath-upon-Deane Comprehensive School and was regarded by many of his teachers as a model pupil - hard-working, well behaved and a credit to the school. It was during his youth that he developed his passion for Conservativism. Aged just 16, he addressed the 1977 Conservative Party Conference with a spirit, humour and conviction that led then Conservative leader Margaret Thatcher to describe him as the next William Pitt. His academic success made it possible for him to study at Magdalen College, Oxford.

He went into politics, was elected Conservative Member for Richmond and served in John Major's cabinet as Welsh Secretary (during which time he met his future wife, Ffion). After the Conservatives' landslide defeat at the hands of New Labour in 1997, John Major resigned as Tory leader. In the resultant leadership election, William, aged just 36, was chosen to lead the party. As leader, William failed to dent Prime Minister Tony Blair's consistently high public ratings. He also became ridiculed for a series of misjudgments, such as his decision to wear a baseball cap to appeal to young voters, his boast that he had regularly drunk 14 pints of beer a day as a young man, his judo sessions and his wisecracking comments at Prime Minister's Questions. He fought the 2001 General Election on the issues of keeping the pound and rejecting the European Single Currency, locking up all asylum seekers and lowering the tax burden. His failure to make any clear commitments to better public services was regarded by many as severely damaging to his election chances. On June 7, the Conservatives were resoundingly beaten by the Labour Party for a second successive time.

Although he was re-elected to his Richmond seat, Hague resigned as Tory leader the next day. He became only the second Conservative Party leader in the history of British politics never to serve as Prime Minister. His future is uncertain, although careers in either enterprise or broadcasting are realistic possibilities. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous Spouse (1)

Question: In which year did William Hague become leader of the Conservative Party?
Answer: 1997